Shobana (born Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai) is
an Indian film actress and Bharata Natyam dancer from Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala. She has acted in more than 200 films in several languages including
Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and English.
Shobana was a lead actress in a number of
southern Indian films during the 1980s and 1990s. She has worked with directors
such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G Aravindan, K Balachandar, AM Fazil, Mani
Ratnam, Bharathan and Priyadarsan. She won the National Film Award for Best
Actress twice, for her performances in the films Manichitrathazhu (1993) and
Mitr, My Friend (2001). Consequent to the 1993 National Award, Shobana turned
extremely selective about her films.
Shobana was trained under the Bharata Natyam
dancers, Chitra Visweswaran and Padma Subrahmanyam. She emerged as an
independent performer and choreographer in her twenties and currently runs a
dance school, Kalarpana, in Chennai.
In 2006, the India honoured Shobana with the
Padma Shri for her contributions towards the classical dance.
Her
other major films include Kanamarayathu, Ithiri Poove Chuvanna Poove (1984),
Yaathra, Rangam (1985), Anantaram, Vrutham (1987),Idhu Namma Aalu (1988), Siva
(1989), Innale (1990), Thalapathi (1991), Manichitrathazhu (1993), Thenmavin
Kombath (1994), Dance like a Man (2003), Mampazhakkalam (2004) and Makalkku
(2005). From Aviduthe Pole Ivideyum to Upaharam, Shobana did twelve movies in a
single year, 1985.
Shobana's
also stars in the upcoming Tamil period film Kochadaiiyaan
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